Dead Like Me
by Exekyl
Summary: Our main character, Roxas, dies in a car accident at the age of fourteen. However when he dies, he cannot pass on, for his destiny now is to become a grim reaper. Rated M for content in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Club

**This is a story that I wrote that's based off of the show Dead Like Me, a show that used to be played on HBO. All of the characters used in this story belpng to Square Enix and Disney, as well as the places. The scenarios as basic layout of this story as well as the show Dead Like Me belong to their respectable owners. Thank you for your time.**

-Chapter 1: Welcome to the Club-

Hi. My name is Roxas and I'm a dead guy. Well, an undead guy, but you understand right? Of course not... All of you people who are among the living don't understand. Let's just start from the very beginning... The day that I became a reaper.

It was a nice Saturday morning, almost noon, and my brothers and sisters were already out of bed. I had two older brothers: Riku, who's fifteen, and Sora, who's my fourteen year old twin brother. We're not identical twins though... Anyway, I also have three young sisters: Xion, Kairi, and Namine. They're triplets. Also fourteen. You see... Sora and I were adopted, since our dad thought he might be shootin' blanks and all... Turns out he wasn't and when our mom was two weeks pregnant they adopted us, to cute little month old infants from a beaten down orphanage... Why didn't they get older ones? Maybe they just wanted to give us a good life, or maybe they wanted some fair competition for Riku, who was eleven months old at the time. Oh crap, I rambling... Okay...the day of my death.

Like I said, it was a Saturday. Nice morning, almost noon, when Sora came in to get me up so that we could go to band practice. Sora, being the livewire he is, plays the drums, while I settled for bass guitar. Riku and the girls bade us good morning while I scarfed down my toast and slung my guitar over my shoulder. My parents weren't home since they worked on Saturday mornings. I never got to say good bye to them...

Anyway, we were on the way to Hayner's, band leader/ singer, house and some guy came by and asked me my name. Of course, being the kid I am I told the guy to fuck off, but Sora said, "ROXAS LIGHTHART! You know what mom said about your use of foul langauge!" And of course I snapped back at him with a "Be quiet, Sora, or I'll tell mom about what you did to Namine's art supplies!" That shut him up... The idiot ate all of her brown pieces of charcoal because Riku told him they were tootsie rolls... But man do I miss that idiot...

Anyway, the same random guy walks up to us and brushes his hand on my arm and says, "I hope you get to wherever you're going safely," and walks off. Creepy ass mother fucker... Damn... I think Axel's starting to rub off on me... The cursing is getting worse... Well, whatever.

So, Sora and I start walking again, and right when we reach the crosswalk of an intersection this car comes out of nowhere. Right when Sora screamed, "Roxas! Look out!" I was pelted all the way down the road to the next 4-way. The weird thing was that I didn't feel anything. Next thing I know, I'm standing up, perfectly fine and this weird redhead is standing there staring at me with his little stub of an eyebrow raised. Weirdest looking guy too... The way his hair was you'd think his head was on fire... And he had these weird dark purple upside-down teardrop tattoos underneath his almond shaped green eyes. He was wearing a nice red jacket that day, with just a simple black T-shirt underneath, and some tattered looking blue jeans.

Then I realized, he was the only one looking straight at me.

I turned to the figure of my frantic looking brother, he was screaming and running towards me, praying to god I was okay. But I was fine... right? I held my arms open to embrace him, to tell him it was okay but he... ran straight through me... towards the place where my body was lying...

Wait... My body?

I looked at my hands, then to the figure that lay on the ground. I walked to the spot beside my brother, looking at the remains. Yep. That's definately my body... Except I had just a little bit of road rash... just about everywhere... and there was a lot of blood... Yep... That was me...

I looked back at the ginger guy; he was still looking dead at me. When I pointed to the body he just nodded and turned around to walk away. So I ran up to him.

"What's going on?" I said to him.

"You're dead. Got it memorized?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Dead: no longer living; deprived of life. Brain-dead. Not endowed with life; inanimate. Resembling death; death-like. Bereft of sensation or feeling; numb. The list of definitions goes on kiddo, do I hafta spell it out for you?"

"But why me?" I asked desperately, stopping the man in his tracks.

Just as he was about to speak, another voice joined in, one that still, to this day, scares the hell outta me.

"The time came for you to die, that's why."

The redhead laughed, "Saix! I didn't expect you to be here."

Saix was a tall man, just a bit taller than Axel. He had crazier hair than Axel did. It was blue and really long. The top was sort of slicked back so that some of the ends stuck up at the back of his head. He had two sections of his hair in front of his shoulders, one on each side. But the scariest qualities about him were the unreal ones. He had pointed ears, like the ones you can get done surgically, and these mean wolf-like yellow eyes that pierce through your eternal soul with just one sideways glance... And the X-shaped scar the was placed in the exact center of his face really brought it together. He was wearing a blue jacket with a cresent moon on it and had blue jeans just like Axel.

"I only came to show the newest member of our group the ropes, Axel."

"Newest member? Thank Kingdom Hearts that pedoleech Ansem is gone! I thought he'd be here for enough years to match the ones he's lived..."

Saix chuckled, something he rarely ever does, "Yes, well, to be true I was getting tired of the man... Now I can finally do my job without him being up my ass all the time."

"Wait a sec... newest member?" I asked, interrupting the two.

"That's right, kid, you're a reaper now," Saix stated.

"A reaper?"

"Yep. Means you're undead now. Well, not now exactly... only when you accept your new role," Axel said.

"Wait... Why me?"

"You were Ansem's last soul. Meaning he got a promotion and left this forsaken place for 'bigger and better things' I suppose. Once a reaper reaps his or her last soul they get promoted and the last soul they reap takes their place. Just the rules of death I suppose," Saix said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Damn... Well this sucks... We were supposed to play a gig next weekend... Damn..." I said, more to myself than to them.

"So," Saix said as we all stopped in a dark alley, "Do you accept your fate?"

I looked around apprehensively, giving them both cautious looks before saying, "You guys aren't gonna rape me are you?" I know... Random as hell, but I had to ask.

The two of them looked at each other and did something I might never again see them, well Saix, do again. They burst out laughing. Yeah, I know, freaky right? I don't really know how to describe Saix's laugh, but it's a lot like a Satan laugh... only fuller than you'd expect... Not scratchy at all, but it isn't full enough to be a Santa laugh. It's sort of like Ganondorf's laugh. You know, the one from Ocarina of Time? When he's talkig about, "You stupid little boy! You've opened the door to the spirit world!" or whatever. But it isn't as jolly... And it's one of those laughs that when he takes a breath there's this noise that's like a dog whining. You know the deal. But his laugh definately fits him, surprisingly. I wonder if I should ask him again sometime, but in front of everyone else... Maybe I'll get the same reaction. Or a snappy comeback... Maybe he'll say yes just to freak me out. Hmm...

Saix was whiping tears from his face when he said, "We can't rape souls kid. You can't even come in contact with anything when you're in the state you're in."

Axel was still laughing when he said, "Besides, if we were gonna rape you, you couldn't exactly call for help, now could you? Reapers are the only ones who can see and communicate with the souls of the dead, while still being able to communicate with the souls of the living. Got it memorized?"

"Oh... okay... So how do I become a reaper?"

"Do you accept your fate?" Saix asked once again.

"...Yes," I rreplied.

"Then you're a reaper now... Well, you'll start tomorrow... No one can see you now but us. You'll need to find a place to live, Axel I'm sure you could help him."

Axel looked shocked, "Me? Why me? You know I hate babysitting!"

"Nonsense," Saix replied stoicly, "think of it as having a young roommate. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to catch." He held up a sticky note in his fingers and turned to leave the alley. As he left he waved the hand with the sticky note over his shoulder and said, "So long."

I turned to Axel, who looked like he had just been slapped in the face. He looked down at me and sighed, "Aww... What the hell... I guess you could live with me... C'mon I show you the way..."

And as he turned to leave I couldn't help but wonder... What the hell have I been dragged into. I'd soon find out that I was a building block in the evil, sadistic pyramid scheme of what was literally life and death. But that's just what you've got to live with when you're an undead soul, just doing the job that nobody wants to do. Reaping the souls of the living so that they can move on, until you can move on. That's death for ya.


	2. Chapter 2: My Soul to Take

-Chapter 2: My Soul to Take-

"Is he the newbie?" asked a blonde woman. Oh God... Her hair reminds me of a cockroach...

"Yep. Everybody this is Roxas. Roxas, everybody," Axel said, gesturing to the group.

We were sitting in the corner of a restaurant, at a very large table. My eyes scanned over twelve other people, including Axel, Saix, and ten people I didn't know yet. One of them had black hair with gray streaks in it, and it was tied back into a ponytail. He was also wearing an eyepatch and had a jagged scar across his left cheek and he reminded me of a pirate. He had pointed ears and yellow eyes, just like Saix, except Saix's were a little more deadly. One of them had Really long dreds in a messy ponytail and some serious sideburns. The guy next to him looked seriously paranoid. He had long blonde hair and one of his eyes looked bigger than the other, or maybe that was just the face he was making. One of them was huge with orangey-brown hair- the man was definately box chested- and the guy next to him looked my age and almost the exact opposite of the big guy. He was a very small boy with his hair parted over his right eye and had a book that could knock out sideburns over there. Saix sat next to him and next to Saix was an empty seat (Axel's seat). Next to that seat was a man with a dirtly blonde mullhawk (mohawk/mullet) and the biggest dumb smile on his face. He reminded me so much of Sora I wanted to hug him and start crying. Next to him was a man with short blonde hair and a goatee. He had three piercings on each ear and was shuffling a deck of playing cards. Next to him was a... man... with pink hair... I think? It still confuses me to this day whether tranny-man over there is actually a man... His looks are just as misleading as his very deep voice... He was examining a fine looking rose. Next to him was cacabug lady (cacabug is a term that means cockroach in my household) and next to her was a tan guy with white hair. He had yellow eyes like Xigbar and Saix, and he was staring at me. Then there was another empty seat. One that was meant for me...

"So newbie, what's your name?" asked the pirate guy.

"Er... Roxas..."

"Well, Erroxas, I'm Xigbar."

"No, my name is Roxas."

"Oh, sorry, speak up kid. My hearing's not what it used to be."

"Hi, Roxas! My name's Demyx!" said the guy with the mullhawk. Bubbly little guy isn't he?

"I'm Larxene. If you mess with me I will not hesitate to cut you," said the cacabug lady. Twenty seconds with her and I already think she's a bitch.

"And_ this_," she said, gesturing to the tan man,_ "_is Norty."

"My name is Xehanort, you disgusting blonde hag," he said slowly. Larxene brandished a knife to his face, which he just sat there and took without even flinching, leaving a nice gash across his cheek. My jaw dropped, and before I could say anything, they continued.

"My name's Marluxia, but everyone calls me Marly around here," said the pink haired tranny-man. His voice scares me in a way similar to the way Saix's eyes do, except Saix's eyes scream death and Marly's voice screams rape.

"I'm Luxord, your happy british companion!" said the blonde, whom I have at this point labeled as the group's drunk.

"I'm Xaldin, most see me as the group's cook. But, like Larxene, I won't hesitate to cut you if you're in my space or near my food." Scary jungle man has just been added to my list of dangerous people to watch out for.

"My name is Zexion. This is Lexeaus. We aren't much for talk, so don't try to strike up a conversation." Most words the little man has ever said to me.

"Like he said, I'm Lexeaus." Most words I think the big man's ever spoken in his life.

"I am Vexen and you will treat me with repect," the paranoid looking guy shrieked. Okay... Crazy much?

"Don't mind Vex, he's the scientist. He usually keeps to himself. Now that you know everyone, please take a seat," Saix said gesturing to the empty seat. Axel took his own seat as I made myself comfortable. Well, as comfortable as I could get with eleven other people watching my every move.

Demyx made a sort of cooing noice, "Aww... He's so young... How old are you?"

I looked at him blankly, "Fourteen."

He gasped, shock written all over his face, "It's a crime that some young ones have to die..."

Xigbar nodded, "Ain't that the truth... So, Roxas, how'd you die?"

"I was hit by a car and was sent flying. I might have survived if my bass guitar didn't land on top of me and crush my ribcage."

"Spoken like a true reaper," Marly said, tilting his glass toward me before taking a sip.

"You've got quite a large group today, Sir..." the waitress said as she came to our table.

"That means a bigger tip for you ma'am," Saix replied with a smile, "What do you all want, I'm buyin' today."

"Pancakes!" shouted Demyx, "And bacon! Extra extra _extra_ crispy!"

"Same," said Xaldin and Xigbar in unison.

"Just hot tea for me love," Luxord said with a smile.

"Waffles," said Marluxia and Larxene.

"Steak," Saix said.

"For breakfast?" Marluxia asked in a disgusted tone.

"A man's gotta eat, and I can't survive on just bacon. And can I have that steak rare?"

"Sure thing," said the waitress.

Xehanort said, "No thanks, I'm not hungry." His gash was completely healed and he was wiping off the blood with his napkin.

"We want eggs. Sunny side up, please," said Zexion, jesturing to both Lex and himself.

"An omelette with a side of hashbrowns for me please," Vexen said.

"And you two?" the waitress asked pointing to me and Axel.

I didn't know what I wanted to eat. But it didn't matter because Axel said, "Sea salt ice cream popsicles for me and my young friend here."

"You're worse than Saix!" Marluxia once again said with a disgusted tone.

"Don't knock 'til ya try it," Axel said, leaning back in his chair.

"I'll be back with your orders," the waitress said before she turned around and left.

"Alright, today I've got everyone's assignments," Saix said, holding up a black book. When he opened it, it was full of stick notes... He started pulling off each one and handed them to their designated reapers. When he got to mine he handed it to me and said, "You will be with Axel today. He'll show you how everything works. This is the first time in a long time we've all been together like this, so let's enjoy, hm?"

"Cool, Roxas's first day on the job! Good luck today buddy!" Demyx said. Yeah he was definately on an all time happy high...

I laughed a little, then looked down a my card. It read: S. Leonhart Hollow Bastion Library Room 1 E.T.D.: 3:45 p.m.

I looked up at Saix, "What's E.T.D.?"

"Estimated Time of Death."

"Oh..." I looked down at my lap, then back up at him, "So, what am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to take the soul of the person on that note there before they die."

"What if they die before I get to them?"

"You can still take their soul, but they'd have felt the pain of their death. It wouldn't be nice to let them die like that."

"Oh... okay... But... Do they have to die? Can't we just let them live?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"If _you_ skip an appointment or change fate in any kind of way so that that person doesn't die when they have to, their soul will slowly die and rot inside of them. I've seen it happen many times before, and we cannot risk it happening again. However, if the person doesn't show up for an appointment, their death is rescheduled for a different time. Understand?"

"...Yes," I replied, looking back at my lap.

"Okay~! Here are you orders: Three orders of pancakes with a side of bacon- extra extra extra crispy. Two orders of eggs- sunny side up. One rare steak. One omelettes with a side of hashbrowns, two orders of waffles, one hot cup of tea, and two sea salt ice cream popsicles. Anything else?" the waitress said as she handed us all our food.

"No ma'am, that's all. Thank you," Saix said.

"No problem, you've always been a good customer here," the waitress giggled as she turned and left.

"Ooooo~! Looks like SaiSai has a fangirl!" Marluxia teased.

"I do not, Marluxia. And don't call me 'SaiSai'... It's demeaning..." Saix with a frown.

"Yes you do, Saix, don't deny it! That waitress lady likes you!" Demyx giggled.

"Lucky bastard! And she's really hot too..." Xigbar said with a laugh.

"Yep... I'd shag her," Luxord said as he pour some rum out of a flask into his tea.

"Luxord that was inappropriate. Anyway she really isn't my type..." Saix frowned again.

"Oooo~! Saix has a type now! So what is your type?" Axel asked with a wry smile.

Saix's frown grew larger and grimmer (if that's even possible), "Do we really have to do this... Can't we just eat and get on with our lives?"

"It takes more muscles to make a frown, Saix." Demyx said, making a "tsk tsk tsk" motion with his finger.

"Did you know it takes 10,000 smiles to cause one wrinkle, Demyx?" Saix shot back, cutting into his steak. He picked up a large chunk with his fork and ripped into it with his teeth.

Saix is a carnivore by preference, but his teeth are definately the teeth of a carnivore by nature. If you couldn't tell by his teeth, then you could tell by the way he eats his food. He'll take a big piece of meat and rip into it with his teeth like an animal. The only way you could tell that the man was in any way civilized when he was eating was when he used his napkin to wipe his mouth, he just pats his lips with the straightest face on- doesn't even get clean until he licks his lips at the end. Then he'll wipe them with a napkin, which makes absolutely no sense to me... If you weren't too shocked by the way he ate, you'd just laugh at him. But you can't exactly laugh at Saix... his death stare can burn a hole through any soul- living, dead, or undead. In case I haven't already made my point, the man intimidates the hell outta me...

I looked at my popsicle. I'd never heard of a sea salt flavored ice cream, it was new I guessed. I took a bite of it.

"...It's salty... but it's really sweet too... It's weird but I kinda like it..."

"Are you telling this is your first time having sea salt ice cream?" Axel said in mid lick of his popsicle with wide eyes.

"Yeah... I've never been in this restaurant before..." I replied.

"Well, now that you've had your first taste, how do you like it?"

I thought about it a little bit, "It's up there in my top five flavors, right next to chocolate chip cookie dough and cake batter."

"Kewl!" Axel smiled.

We all ate for almost an hour, having our little conversations here and there. Axel looked at his note, "Oh shit! Got an appointment in forty-five minutes! C'mon Roxas, we gotta go!" He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up, "And thanks again for breakfast, Saix, it was real nice of you!"

Saix rolled his eyes.

-~*PB&J*~-

"So what's your note say?" I asked Axel when he finally let go of me. We were inside Hollow Bastion's library, where a resistance group from Traverse Town was holding a meeting. However, the meeting was finished when we arrived, and everyone was starting to clear out.

"I've got two: A. Gainsborough and C. Strife."

"You lookin' for Cloud and Aerith?" said a short girl with knee high converse. She reminded me a lot of Xion when we were eleven or twelve.

"Yeah, and a S. Leonhart," I said.

"Oh, you're lookin' for Squall too?"

"Yeah... do you know where we can find-"

"YUFFIE FOR THE LAST TIME MY NAME IS LEON!" screamed a man the other room.

"Well, Leon, these guys here are lookin' for you, Aerith, and Cloud!" Yuffie yelled back.

"Oh, someone's looking for us?" yelled a young woman's voice.

"Yeah! C'mon guys, they could be new guys wanting to join our cause to beat the bad guys and stuff!"

"We're coming, Yuffie, just give us a minute..." said another man's voice.

A few minutes later, the Leon, Aerith, and Cloud came into the room. Leon was a tall man with spiked brown hair and a scar across his face, like half of Saix's scar from his right eyebrow to his left cheek. Aerith was a nice looking girl with brown hair tied back into a braid, with a red ribbon tied to the base. Cloud's blonde hair was almost as unmanagable as mine, it spiked up in a deadly fashion that reminded me of a chocobo... Wait... What the hell is a chocobo? ...Where'd that even come from... (Note: I'm sure all of you know that there are NO chocobo's in Kingdom Hearts. Thank you.)

"Are you guys going to join the revolution?" Leon asked.

"Yes, well, we wanted to hear more of your view point on the subject..." Axel said, he held out his hand, "Oh, my name's Lea by the way..."

"A pleasure," Leon said, shaking his hand. The other's followed suit. When the others shook his hand something smokey came off of their hands for a second, then it was gone.

"And what might your name be young man?" Aerith asked me.

"My name is... um... Ventus... Nice to meet you," I said, holding out my hand. I shook all of their hands, the same smokey effect thing happening when I shook Leon's hand.

"Now about our view of the subject, we were hoping that-" Leon started as Axel's attention went to the clock. Time was almost up.

"Oh shit, is that clock right?" he asked.

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?"

"Ven has to get to his doctor's appointment," he said with a depressed look on his face, "He has to get his scheduled CT scan... Ever since that accident when he was little I've had to take care of him... His parents died and I, being their most trusted friend, was granted guardianship of-"

"Lea-chan... We've gotta go..." I said with an even more depressed look on my face. I mean I looked downright cut myself emo. Damn I'm good.

"Oh, I see, some other time then?" Aerith asked.

"If we can, yes," Axel said, "C'mon Ven... let's go..."

I followed him out of the library and waited in the shadows with him.

"Damn, Roxas, you're pretty good at improvising..."

"Thanks. Last minute lying's always been a skill of mine."

After about five minutes we heard screams and a crash. I heard Yuffie crying and screaming at them to wake up, not wanting to accept that fate had taken it's toll. A few seconds later the souls of the dead walked out of the room and found us.

"What happened?" asked Cloud.

"You're dead," Axel said, "And now it's time for you to move on."

"Where do we go? And what about Yuffie?" Aerith asked.

"We'll make sure she finds a good home..."

"...Wait... I have an idea..." I said.

I mulled my idea over with them and they all thought it was great. Now to set the gears in motion. Axel and I nodded at each other and jogged around in circles a bit (faking that we ran a long way), then ran into the room where Yuffie sat on the floor, crying beside a fallen bookcase, a feminine hand resting palm up on the ground from undrneath it. There was blood splattered all over the floor, the books, the walls, and Yuffie.

I walked up to Yuffie and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Yeah... let's hope this plan works.

-~*PB&J*~-

Yuffie found the adress that Lea and Ven wrote on a card for her to find. She sat on the steps and waited for someone, anyone. She started to cry.

"What's wrong?" said a young boy with brown spikey hair aas he approached the house. He sat next to her and she stopped.

"My friends... my family... everyone's dead now..." she said silently.

"You shouldn't hold in your tears. Crying just show's that you have emotions... That you cared for those people..." the boy said, looking straight ahead of him through the trees

"And how would you know about losing someone hunh?" she asked curtly.

"I watched my brother get hit straight on by a car and saw as he slid down the road. I watched as the bass guitar he always played crushed his ribcage and I watcched as the paramedics pulled away. I stood by his body when the doctor proclaimed him dead to the world and I shed all of the tears I could probably ever shed in my life. How's that for losing someone?" the replied quietly.

Yuffie stared at him for a moment, "I just watched the three people I loved the most get crushed by a huge bookcase."

"Sounds pretty bad..." the boy said, looking at his feet.

"...My name's Yuffie..."

"I'm Sora..." the boy said, standing up. He held his hand out to Yuffie, "Come inside, you can stay with us. I'm sure my parents won't mind taking you in. Sounds like you really need some friends." He smiled at her.

Yuffie took his hand and went inside with him. She'd have to remember to thank those two someday.


	3. Chapter 3: Family Ties

-Chapter 3: Family Ties-

It's been about a week since I became a reaper, and I must say... the week has been _very _interesting. In just a short seven days I have seen so many of the possible ways to die, including decapitation, bullet wounds, heart attacks, guillotines, burns, car crashes, hangings, jumpings, and drownings. And if I've learned one thing here, it's tat there is definately more than one way to skin a cat... figuratively speaking. I've learned about Heartless, the creatures that set death into motion and give us a job to do.

Our collection of twelve reapers is divided into groups. Every group of reapers consists of four people and has three designated areas. Our group, which covers Hollow Bastion, Destiny Islands, and Twilight Town, includes myself, Axel, Saix, and Xehanort. Xehanort, I've learned, is a very slow speaker. But I've also learned that he likes to take a scientific approach to things. He likes to experiment on stuff when we aren't reaping, like animals and sometimes volunteers, and I usually watch. Some of them have really funny outcomes too, but if things start to go crazy Saix comes in and stops us. I don't know how he knows, maybe his eyes really can see everything, or maybe Vexen rubbed off on me and I'm just a bit paranoid.

Anyway, at the table, Saix handed out todays assignments. I didn't get one, Axel got two, and Xehanort got a one.

I read the writing on Xehanort's note. It said: X. Litehart Twilight Town Clock Tower E.T.D.: 1:36 p.m.

I immediately grabbed it from his hands to get a closer look.

"Excuse me!" Xehanort shouted.

No. I couldn't be. It just couldn't be.

"Roxas? You okay... You look sick," Axel said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head, tears running down the side of my face. No... Just NO... Why does it have to be her...

Saix looked at me with sad eyes and put his hand on one of mine, "I'm sorry, Roxas. If I could control this I'd let her live longer, but fate works in mysterious ways."

"What do you mean, Saix, why's Roxas acting like this?" Axel asked.

"My sister..." I said as tears continued to roll down my cheeks, "My _fucking_ sister... Why?"

I slumped over so that my head rested on the table, not wanting to let anyone else see me cry. Xehanort took the note from my hands and pocketed it.

"Well, since you know her it'll be a lot easier to identify her. Do you have a picture you could show me?" Xehanort asked calmly.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a family photo. It was the only picture I could swipe from my house without it being noticed, since I had two copies of it. This wasn't the original one. No, the original one was framed and was to be placed at my grave when I was finally buried. In the picture, everybody was happy. We were all at the beach that day. Riku and Sora were play fighting with toy swords while I was keeping score and waiting to fight the winner. Xion was collecting sea shells with Kairi, who was tieing the seashells together to make us all good luck charms. Namine was sitting in the shade, drawing all of us in her sketch book. My parents were taking the pictures that day. It was a great day for everybody, and I found myself sobbing even harder by just remembering it. I collected myself and handed the picture to Xehanort, pointing to Xion and saying, "That's her... And when you're explaining things to her... tell her that... that I'm sorry..."

"You can tell her that yourself, Roxas, you're going with him," Saix said casually.

"Me? I can't do that! If I go with him I'll have to watch my sister die!" I protested. I was pissed and depressed. This must be how a menstual period feels...

"It wasn't a question, _boy_. And do you really think you're the first one to watch someone you love die? Pfft! Take a number, kid," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"And what do _you_ know about it?" I spat.

"A lot more than you do. Not to mention that my experience was far worse than yours is going to be... But if you want to hear my problems I suggest you ask me about them when you've calmed down a bit."

I glared at him throughout breakfast, but he seemed to be in his own little world. If I wasn't so pissed I would have apolegized, but it's hard not to be pissed when your littlest sister has a date with death, and you have to be there to watch the whole thing.

"I think we should go now. We'll have to catch the train to get there before her," Xehanort said, clapping a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

I reluctantly stood up, huffing as I turned and left. I didn't notice the sigh that escaped Saix's mouth, nor did I notice the tear that had finally escaped his hold, and that was rolling slowly down his cheek.

-~*PB&J*~-

Xehanort and I made it to our appointment and found Xion running towards the clock tower. We introduced ourselves and shook her hand, Xehanort taking her soul as he let go. Xion was always a kind girl, even if she's really quiet and is a little strange sometimes. But you know she'll fight you if she has to, that's just how cool she was, always wanting to be remembered. She always kept her emotions to herself, except today her face was streaked with tears. She looked angry and sad, and as she ran to the tower, I knew what she was going to do. Not ten minutes later, my sister was at the top if that tower, arms out as she prepared to take flight, and she jumped. It was almost like it was in slow motion, and just before she hit the ground, I turned to look at Xehanort. The look on his face shocked me. He was smiling, a big happy smile, and I thought _What the hell if wrong with this guy?_  
>Then I heard the crash. I couldn't stop myself from looking, then I immediately turned around and threw up. My sister was face down on the ground, her blood was spread all over the bricks, and don't get me started on her brains. Picture it how you want, but just know that it was actually a hell of a lot worse.<p>

"Xehanort... I don't think I can take this..." I choked.

There was no response.

"Xehanort?" I called as I turned to him... or, at least, where he was... "Xehanort?"

"Roxas? Roxas is that you?"

I turned to my sister (her soul of course, not her body), "Yeah, Xion, it's me."

She smiled happily, "I knew it... I knew I'd see you if I did this..."

"You shouldn't have done this..." I said, looking at my feet.

"...What do you mean, Roxas?"

"What about mom and dad and the rest of our family? You just left them all to handle your death alongside them handling mine?"

Xion looked taken aback. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, "...I... I didn't mean to cause trouble... I missed you..."

"I missed you too... but missing someone does not atone for doing stupid shit like this! What were you thinking?"

She looked down at her feet, guilt written all across her features, "I just... wanted to see you again..."

"Just as I suspected... Xehanort's time finally came..."

Saix. Great fucking timing.

"Who are you," asked Xion, "Do you know this guy, Roxas?"

"He's my boss..." I groaned.

"And now I'm your boss too," he said to Xion with a smile.

"WHAT?" I screeched, my voice cracking a little.

"What do you mean?" Xion asked.

"Roxas and I are what we call reapers. Basically we take peoples souls before they die." And so the cycle continues.

He said a lot more, but I'm gonna stop him there because it's mostly the same crap you've heard before. Basically: Us = reapers, people have to die, we get schedule, name + place + E.T.D. We take souls, heartless cause people to die, people die painlessly, the end! Oh, joy! Oh, _rapture_!

"Okay... So I have to be a reaper... Does this mean I get to stay with Roxas?"

"Until one of you moves on."

"Okay... I guess I have to be what I have to be..."

"Interesting..."

"What?"

"You are so much more cooperative than you brother here... Well, I guess we should go find Axel, Xion must want to stay with her brother so she'll be living with you two..." Saix sighed as he started to walk.

"Sounds good to me... He's probably at the bar," I said, following Saix.

"Who's Axel?" Xion asked.

"He's the other reaper in our group. He's a ginger and he works as a pyrotechnist for a living."

"I thought our job was to reap peoples souls?"

"Yeah, but reaping peoples' souls doesn't pay for food..."

"I see..."

Saix sighed, shaking his head, "Who goes to a bar at 2 in the afternoon?"

I chuckled, "Axel, obviously..."

"Roxas...?" Xion asked quietly.

"Hmm?" I replied, looking at her.

"What a pyrotechnist?"

"They make fireworks for a living."

Xion's eyes widened and some of her inner weirdo showed through the sparkling in her eyes, "That's so fucking cool..."

"That's the first time I've heard you use a curse word..." I said looking straight into her eyes.

She smiled, "First time using one... Did I do it right?"

"You got the context right-"

"There it is... Okay," Saix interrupted with a sigh, "Let's get Axel shall we?"

Xion and I nodded as we made our way to retrieving our dear old friend, Axel.

-~*PB&J*~-

Saix slapped Axel lightly across the face a few times, "Wake up, Axel!"

"Wait..." I said holding up my hand, stopping Saix just before he started to mercilessly shake the poor drunken redhead. I'd only seen him that way once before, three days ago at a party reap. He was _hammered_. I mean downright _wasted_. So I did now what I did then, after telling Saix to move out the fucking way or else he might just get chunks blown all over his nice leather jacket. "What did I do?" you ask? I did what all good friends do to sober up a friend... I gave him a hard poke to the belly and induced some spasmodic laughter from tickling his sides. That is what you do... right?

"AHH! ROXAS-AHHAH! S-STOP HAHAHAHA!" Axel gasped between breaths. If it talks, it's probably awake. Maybe not _sober_, but at the very least... awake...

"Axel, can you calm yourself and stop drinking for one sec..." I asked calmly, removing my fingers from assaulting his sides.

"Hold on a tic..." he said, taking a gulp of beer and swallowing some sort of pill. Some color immediately came back to his face and his eyes weren't as bloodshot as before. He seemed a little bit more steady too, but we still had to help him stand while the pill took it's effects.

"Axel, this is my sister, Xion. Xion, this is Axel..." I said.

Axel held out his hand, "Pleased to meet you. Like you heard from Roxas, the name's Axel, got it memorized?" He did his signature doubletap to the forehead with his unstretched hand.

Xion took his hand in hers and said, "I like fire..."

Axel smiled, "Then we'll get along just fine..."

"She's replacing Xehanort," Saix said blandly.

"Norty?" Axel asked, "Aw... Too bad... I kinda liked him..."

"'Twas a crying shame..."

"Xion is living with us too, Axel..." I said.

"Alright, alright," he said with a small hiccup, before rubbing his nose and saying, "Lead the way, Roxas," pointing out of the bar window.

We all lead our staggering friend out as I explained to Xion that our beloved Axel wasn't always like this, and that sometimes he was worse. Heh... Been here a week and I've already seen enough to know that much... Death's got it's twists and turns, same way as life does... Except in death, they tend to be a little more troublesome... For example, cleaning the hardwood floor after a certain redhead vomitted his lunch all over it... *Sigh* Yep... The life of a dead guy... Exciting isn't it... A lot more than I bargained for I'll tell you that...

-~*PB&J*~-

Saix closed and locked the door to his small apartment, and walked over to his dresser, tossing the black book of Post-It's on his bed. He sighed as he thought of how Axel seemed to be able to drink away most of his problems. He knew exactly why he was drinking like he was today, and he knew that they'd have to tell them about it sooner or later, but not now.

He picked up a picture frame and sat at the edge of his bed. He sat still for a moment, staring down at the three figures in the picture. Three happy people, a man, a woman, and a small boy. The man was ruffling the boys hair, with an arm around the woman, who seemed to be giggling, an arm around the waist of the man and a hand on the boys shoulder. The boy was looking up at the man and the woman, grinning widely. A teardrop landed on the glass, right on top of the X-shaped scar, centered on the smiling man's face.

The tears continued to fall as Saix placed the picture back on his nightstand and went to bury his face in his pillow. And he screamed.


End file.
